Shows · Happy as Larry
Donagh MacDonagh’s Happy as Larry began life as an unproduced verse play that was published in 1946, and was later staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and then in London for almost a year’s run. One critic, who was unimpressed with the whimsical and overly complicated plot, suggested the script might best serve as the libretto for a musical. And that’s what happened in 1950, when the musical version opened on Broad…
- Opened
- 1950
- Performances
- 3
- Type
- Musical
- Era
- Golden Age
Productions1 on Broadway
| 1950 | Coronet Theatre Original. January 6, 1950 · Burgess Meredith | 3 performances |
Every Broadway staging held in broadway-data, sourced to IBDB. West End runs are not yet held.
Licensing not confirmed
| Rights | Not confirmed We have not been able to confirm the publisher. |
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11 passages naming Happy as Larry, found by keyword across 178 books. It's where this show turns up in the literature, not curated trivia about it.
Happy as Larry began life as an unproduced verse play that was published in 1946, and was later staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and then in London for almost a year’s run. book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p7
Happy as Larry was clearly a labor of love for Burgess Meredith, who gave a number of backers’ auditions in order to raise capital for the musical, and who starred in (and directed) the short-lived Broadway production. book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p8
The musical had two distinctions: it was the first to open on Broadway in the 1950s, and along with Portofino was the decade’s shortest-running musical, chalking up just three performances. book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p8
(Happy as Larry was tied with Portofino as the shortest running musical of the decade, each running three performances.) book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p30
Happy as Larry (1950, 3 performances). book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p264
The six book musicals for which it appears no songs have been commercially recorded are: Happy as Larry, The Liar, Jotham Valley, Hit the Trail, Portofino, and Happy Town. book:complete-book-of-1950s-broadway-musicals-the-dan-dietz#p875
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